Friday, 7 December 2007

Are you sitting comfortably...? Then I'll begin.. (for those of you as aged as me who remember 'Listen with Mother')

Here we have promised Christmas Giveaway No: 2 Brought to you from Cowboys & Custard..Now you will have to be quick as I am going to end all entries to this draw on Sunday 9th December at 7 .00 p.m G.M.T.Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into the draw... just tell me what your favourite Christmas Fayre would be if you could ditch the turkey! Sorry turkey but I am not a huge fan! Given my dream Christmas dinner.. it would be.. a plate of sweet chilli tiger prawns followed by some olives and fine cheese and olive bread.. washed down with some lovely bubbles.. not coca cola... pink champagne.. to be eaten in mountain retreat.. snowed in with Mr Cage... oops... sorry beloved ...no not Mr Cage... you of course my darling!

Oh yes... the prize..Well any of you who have paid attention over my last few blogs will have seen this one already.. but I have decided to spread a little bit of vintage Christmas to one lucky winner so here it is...One of my vintage box frames featuring a vintage postcard, vintage bisque father Christmas , vintage bottle brush tree and vintage cracker housed in a distress painted wooden box frame...Ta da!

Good Luck one and all and don't forget to leave a comment...All comments will be entered into draw!

Michele, you have made me laugh yet again, the water I was drinking has just gone up my nose, very painful, seems to me you now have Mr Cage on the brain! Let's think, my favourite Christmas dinner would be macaroni cheese with thick wedges of garlic bread to mop up the sauce, followed by any pudding smothered in cream, followed by a good quality filter coffee. You see I am not expensive to keep, why do you think J has put up with me for almost 25 years! x

it seems mr. cage has brought you back to life! that shadow box is beautiful. i love bottle brushes. when my extended family gets together for christmas, we each bring different soups, breads, appetizers, and desserts. it ends up that everyone brings their specialty (meaning each item is delicious) and you get to get quite a sampling of treats. it is a lot of fun!

Hi Michele,How generous of you to give away one of your beautiful nostalgic box frames! Please enter me in the draw.

Last year we bought an organic turkey crown from our local farm shop and I have to say that it restored my faith in the old bird!But if I was to serve (or better still, BE served!) something else, then it would be flash fried scallops in garlic, followed by a lamb shank slow roasted in fig and rosemary sauce on cheesy mash. I love to make mulled wine over the festive season too. (I would also enjoy joining you for those chilli tiger prawns!)

What a lovely give-away.My Christmas dinnner would a standing prime rib with the little paper crowns! Smoothered in a perrercorn rub and sizzling hot! A sweet potato mash up and something decadent for dessert.Wendy

"National Treasure" was the movie I was thinking of with Nicholas Cage. =)

Now on with the Christmas fayre... last year my sister-in-law made a true English Christmas dinner. She used Victorian recipes found in her Harrod's cookbook. We had a delicious creamed apple soup, the best Christmas goose I ever tasted, and a well-aged homemade plum pudding. My hubby supplied the hard sauce from our cookshop. I wish I could duplicate that dinner this evening! ha! =)

If I can suggest two or three alternatives to our feathered friend, can I enter the giveaway more than once???! I would love to have goose, as I've heard its a lovely rich meat, or failing that a handmade lasagne (which I am never allowed to cook at home due to more than one disaster) followed by pancakes and lemon with sugar. Odd I know, ..draw your own conclusions...!P.S. I've got a lovely spot for that gorgeous frame ready and waiting!! x

If I had my own choice of Xmas Fayre it would be....Local organic sweet cured bacon, grilled until crisp...Aberdeen angus beef link sausages...local organic grilled tomatoes...button mushrooms sauted in rich butter..two poached FR eggs..served with a pot of strong tea and granary toast..Well, that would be my breakfast anyway, cause if I was up a mountain in a log cabin with Nicholas Cage, I would't have time for dinner or lunch !!!!Maybe just the odd glass of Crystal champange would be on the menu too.....

Please include me in Michele......If I could not have Turkey which I love at Christmas - if cooked well and not over cooked!!I would have Duck or Goose, not very imaginative I guess, but it just has to be a roast bird!I cook my Turkey on its breast for most of the cooking time and turn it over to crisp the breast for the last hour. All the juice stays in the white breast meat and not in the darker meat! Carol XX

Thanks so much for your lovely comments about my work, and may I say you too are very talented, just having a look at all you photos which displays your talents very well indeed.A holiday in Bath sounds very tempting! lovely part of the world, humming birds sound lovely, a very elegant scene for a bedroom. will put a reserved sticker on the mirror for you,glad you liked it, will hopefully have enough work finished after the new year to start selling...i hope I can answer your questions, still feel I am learning myself..have linked you on my page, hope thats ok too..

Turkey is so boring isn't it! This year we are having Turducken with roasted eggplant sweet potatoe gravy, all from Chef Paul Prudhome's cookbook. That is a boneless chicken inside of a boneless duck inside of a boneless turkey, with stuffing between each layer. Yum! One year we had lobster and key lime pie! That was a good one! If the fayre is cooking, then I'm ordering soft shell crabs, they are my absolute to die for favorite! xo, suzy

Although I would hate to give up the turkey and all the trimmings, my alternative would be a big seafood platter with crab, lobster, crevettes, mussels, clams and scallops (but not whelks), with crusty french bread and a nice bottle of red to wash it down. Pud would probably be my Mum's trifle (which we would be having on Boxing Day anyway) or failing that a sticky toffee pudding with cream. No coffee (I'm not keen on it after food), but maybe a nice cognac to top it all off. Then maybe some Rennies!What a gorgeous box frame picture - I'd be very happy to own it!Cathy XX

I would have duck if I could choose, but as I am the only one coming who likes it it will be plain old turkey for us. I cook my turkey upside down, this is supposed to keep it moist. Please enter me in your lucky draw, love reading your blog.

What a fantastic prize! Could I join you in your alternative Christmas meal? I don't eat meat but I love mediterranean roasted vegetables lots of olive oil, good bread, red wine, olives and chocolate!Kim x

Steak and chips with a fried egg that must have a sloppy yolk. Onion rings and wild mushrooms.Afterwoods I would like rice pudding with a jam gloop in the middle. Northern girls like thier food! :o) Goodness me I am sooooo hungry! :o) Oh and I would like it to be served by a young Mickey Rooney. What? I thought he was very handsome as a young lad! :o)

Wow, that is a lovely shadow box! Please include me in the draw. Hmmmm...let's see. My family's favourite Christmas meal. For starters - vodka & tomato soup followed by Smoked leg of Warthog (Boar would be the closest I could get now) braised in cider then roasted with an apple and rosemary glaze,roasted root vegetables, green beans with mushrooms and toasted almonds, various salads, trifle for pud or cheese and fresh fruit! Hubs would have to pick the wines all followed by frothy espresso. Oh well, a girl can dream...Love the art, you're very inspiring :)

What a glorious blog! I must agree turkey is not my favourite either,I think a nice organic ham, served with carrots glazed with rosemary and mustard and black pepper mash, baby sprouts and lashings of good old fashioned gravy! I dont like Christmas pud either! so dessert would be a lovely steamed sponge pudding(chocolate, or jam) with freshly made hot custard! Yum!

If I was choosing for myself it would be smoked salmon and tiger prawns with fresh hollandaise sauce, followed by the delicious carbonara with rustic Italian bread that hubby and I had a restaurant years ago and have never managed to replicate. For pud I would have to have tarte au citron or my Mum's lemon meringue pie. All washed down with lots of sparkly stuff :)Sorry your craft fair wasn't great. It's so hard selling direct like that as the reaction you get feels so personal. They don't know what they are missing!!Do I get a feeling someone is going to be spending a lot of time wandering through a certain part of Bath? I love NC too - my hubby can't stand him!

Hi Michele,We have had a vote in our house and Turkey wins. To go with the turkey, my youngest loves stuffing and my eldest bacon wrapped sausages. I can't do without roast potatoes and still make a nut roast (lapsed vegetarian) and my husband has to have mashed suede and cauliflower. Pudding will be a combination of mince pies, apple pies and Christmas pud with lots of custard. Not very alternative but hopefully something for everyone. Thanks for saying hello on my blog. Very pleased to meet you.. Your shadow boxes are charming.. hope NOTHS is doing well for you.Will pop back soon.Ginnyx

mmmmmmmas i am a somewhat fickle vegetarian that changes my food likes and dislikes almost daily, i guess i would have to plummet for items that i have never got bored of.starter - beetrootmain - roast potatoes cooked in good olive oilpud - lemon puff biscuits

now thankfully i live with a great chap who loves cooking otherwise the above would be my daily diet as well as xmas day!!

About Me

Welcome to Cowboys & Custard. My name is Michele and I live in the beautiful south west of England. I have a passion for childhood nostalgia which is reflected in my creations..
I live with my wonderful man and son, an eccentric tabby called Pickles and a Border Terrier called Minnie.
In my idle moments (ha!) I co-own Milly & Dottie's Emporium and co-organise The Original Vintage & Handmade Fair..